Jukebox from Hell Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm

Brad Roberts was quoted as saying, "when I wrote that song, it didn't flow through me, I wasn't inspired. I sat down and I decided I had certain themes that I wanted to make sure I handled in a way that wasn't sentimental but at the same time was powerful and poignant. I wanted to put a funny angle on it without being merely slapstick. It all boils down to careful scrutiny of what you're doing, your rational faculties being brought into play."

And no, the song isn't inspired, nor is it inspiring. It is the story of a boy whose hair has suddenly turned white after an auto accident, a girl who can't change in the locker room because of a body covered in birthmarks, and a boy whose family shakes and lurches at church. There is no judgment or opinion about their situations, other than, as mentioned in the lyric quote, the first two are glad they aren't number three.

"Weird Al" Yankovic parodied this song as "Headline News", telling the stories of Tonya Harding, Lorena Bobbitt, and Michael Fay (the boy caned in Singapore for graffiti).

Answer: Chumbawamba

Chumbawamba was a one hit wonder that performed over 30 years. Their one hit wonder status is rather ironic in that, as an anarcho-punk band, they did not pursue commercial success, but actually sang out against it, even recommending their fans shoplift their CDs from record stores (resulting in some chains carrying the CDs behind the counter).

They also created controversy with their interviews, singer Alice Nutter stating, "we like it when cops get killed."

Answer: Something

Reportedly, the singer actually preferred Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday" but realized that did not make a good song.

The name of the group Deep Blue Something came about when the band was brainstorming. Their original name, Leper Messiah, was attracting people expecting punk rock, who then would react angrily when they heard the group's mellower brand of alt-rock. One of the band members stated "We should name it Deep Blue... uh... Something...", and rather than completing the thought ("Sea", "Sky", "Eyes") they decided to stick with the name.

Answer: Stevie Wonder

The years 1982 to 1986 were a time of transition in music, as new wave gave way to MOR ("Middle of the Road", a euphemism used by record producers to mean "elevator music"). Stevie Wonder's hits during this time were this song, "Ebony and Ivory", and "Overjoyed", a slower and softer selection than anything he put out in his younger days, much as many people moved from spicy and exciting foods to a blander diet of stews and meatloaf as they aged.

Answer: You're Beautiful

British Army Captain James Blount left the military after six years to inflict on the world a weapon more damaging than any nuclear warhead--his voice. The first two singles from the aptly titled "Back to Bedlam" album did not fare well at all, but then came the third release, "You're Beautiful".

It was an overnight success in that it took two years and a feature in an Italian cell phone commercial to get noticed before being released as a single in the UK and reaching number one in six weeks.

Answer: Romance

Lady Gaga mixes house, techno, French, new wave, and dance pop in a fusion confusion that sounds great the first time you try it, but then after the first few bites, just tastes a bit weird. Number one on many international charts, including UK, and number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

It tied Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" for most nominations for the Video Music Awards, with ten. It may have also tied "Sledgehammer" for most indecipherable video.

Answer: I Kissed a Girl

My favorite music is that of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and so in 2008 when I heard my coworkers talking about the song "I Kissed a Girl", I thought they were talking about the 1995 song by Jill Sobule. I had never heard of this new singer, Katy Perry, or of the song that was bringing up such controversy, with the chorus of "I kissed a girl and I liked it, the taste of her cherry Chapstick."

Though Sobule's "So we laughed, compared notes, we had a drink, we had a smoke, she took off her overcoat... I kissed a girl" is totally different, she was continually asked her opinion of the Perry single.

Finally, she answered. "I was, 'Well, good for her.' It did bug me a little bit, however, when she said she came up with the idea for the title in a dream. In truth, she wrote it with a team of professional writers and was signed by the very same guy that signed me in 1995." The rest of the statement is not appropriate for a family-oriented website.

Answer: Tom Jones

"Think I'd better dance now..." No, Tom, I don't think even you can dance to this monstrosity.

"Kiss" was in itself an odd enough song, Prince singing in one of the highest falsettos ever recorded. Welsh crooner Tom Jones then started performing it in his Las Vegas shows, singing it in his normal, if exaggerated, voice. Finally, British synthpop completed the move to hell when they saw a videotape of Jones singing it and decided to add their influence. The result was number five in the UK, number 31 in the US.

Answer: Someone left the cake out in the rain

"MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark,
All the sweet green icing flowing down.
Someone left the cake out in the rain.
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again.
Oh, nooooo!"

Jimmy Webb wrote the song about his breakup with a woman (reportedly the cousin of Linda Ronstadt), and Irish actor Richard Harris sang it. The lyric was supposed to be "MacArthur Park is melting in the dark", but they could not get Harris to sing it correctly and finally stuck with the chorus sung in the possessive. Not that the song makes any more or less sense either way. Webb stated that surreal lyrics were all the rage at the time, so the idea of cake in the rain was not an issue.

"Weird Al" Yankovic parodied this in "Jurassic Park".

Answer: Starship

Jefferson Starship became Starship when Paul Kantner, the last founding member of the Jefferson Airplane (the band's original incarnation) left in 1984. Grace Slick remained with the band, but she had joined Jefferson Airplane after the female lead for the first album, Signe Toly Anderson, left. Kantner and the other Jefferson Airplane members won a court case stipulating that neither "Jefferson" nor "Airplane" could be used by the remaining band.

Kantner, as a member of the 60s counterculture, was known for his dislike of commercial music, and was once seen on an interview answering a question about his opinion of "We Built This City" with a profanity.